Bedouin village of Umm Al Kheer under demolition threat, South Hebron Hills

On January 8th, the DCO delivered stop working orders to 8 infrastructures in the Palestinian village of Umm Al Kheer.

In the morning the Israeli Civil Administration, escorted by an Israeli army jeep, entered the Palestinian village of Umm Al Kheer. After examining different buildings, the officers registered the identity of the owners of eight structures and then issued stop working orders.

Among the identified structures, there is also the fencing of the football field built on December 30th by Palestinians in cooperation with an Israeli group. At that time Israeli authorities gave a verbal permission to the construction.

The deadline to appeal to Israeli High Court is fixed on January 22nd. In case of failure of any appeal, the stop working orders will be followed by demolition orders.

The inhabitants of Umm Al Kheer said that 12 more structures in the village are under demolition orders (eight of which are dwellings) for a total of 20 structures. That means that most of the village risks to be eliminated in the next future. Two of the families received the stop working order for the houses that they are building to replace the old ones, demolished on the 8th of September 2011 (see Press release at: http://goo.gl/GekGM).

Umm Al Kheer is a Bedouin village in area C (under Israeli civil and military administration) built in 1948. It’s located close to the Israeli settlement of Karmel established during the beginning of the ’80s and expanded in the recent years. The village routinely experiences harassment from Israeli settlers and military.

The last events are part of a planned strategy to expel the Bedouin community in order to permit a further expansion of the settlement of Karmel. In October 2008 the Israeli army demolished ten house-tents. The demolitions left 60 people homeless. In July 2009 some toilets were destroyed too. On September 8th 2011 three houses and one toilet were demolished.

Operation Dove has maintained an international presence in At-Tuwani and South Hebron Hills since 2004.

[Note: According to the Fourth Geneva Convention, the Hague Regulations, the International Court of Justice, and several United Nations resolutions, all Israeli settlements and outposts in the Occupied Palestinian Territories are illegal. Most settlement outposts, including Havat Ma’on (Hill 833), are considered illegal also under Israeli law.]